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  1. Jason Charlton

    Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016)

    Not knocking you, just the press release... lol.
  2. Jason Charlton

    I need help Sony bdv-e2100 vs Samsung ht-j5500 and why

    As I haven't listened to either system, I can't vouch for their sound quality or their user interfaces. Generally speaking, the performance of these types of "all-in-one" systems are passable for smallish rooms, but will really struggle to produce decent results in any large space. One telling...
  3. Jason Charlton

    I need help Sony bdv-e2100 vs Samsung ht-j5500 and why

    Neither one has any HDMI inputs, so if you don't need digital surround sound for any other sources (cable, satellite, game system, etc.) then both systems are comparable. If you are going to try to use ARC with your display, choose the brand that matches your display - that will improve the odds...
  4. Jason Charlton

    Bose Cube Options

    To piggy back on Al's comment, I'm curious where you found the information for the cube impedance and frequency response? Bose is notoriously secretive when it comes to the actual performance specs of their cube speakers.
  5. Jason Charlton

    Bose Cube Options

    For purposes of playing around, there is no reason you have to stick with the Bose cubes, however the "magic" of Bose is that the Bass Module (not sub) includes a lot of proprietary processing that is designed to overcome the performance limitations of the cubes as well as accentuate the...
  6. Jason Charlton

    2 Channel amp question

    Nope - the jumper plates electrically link the binding posts. You can wire the upper black and the lower red and it wouldn't make a difference.
  7. Jason Charlton

    how to get audio off projector speaker

    Regardless of what you use (be it an amplifier, HT receiver, etc.) your only options for connectivity remain HDMI or digital coax (i.e. you get the audio from the DirecTV receiver). If you're only concerned with basic stereo, any older, used stereo receiver will likely have a digital coax...
  8. Jason Charlton

    2 Channel amp question

    The Speaker A and Speaker B terminals are generally used to switch between pairs of speakers that may be in different rooms. If your speakers have two pairs of binding posts, they are "bi-ampable" - with one pair of posts feeding the highs and mids, and the other pair feeding the woofers. If...
  9. Jason Charlton

    how to get audio off projector speaker

    You won't get any audio out of the projector. The two easiest options will be a soundbar with at least one HDMI input that you simply inject between the DirecTV receiver and your projector (the soundbar would have an HDMI output as well that will pass the video along to the projector)... Or...
  10. Jason Charlton

    Logitech introduces HARMONY ELITE remote. The Most Powerful Harmony Remote Yet

    It's not as unusual as you might think... I've been active in a league for quite some time and even make an annual pilgrimmage to Pittsburgh for the largest pinball tournament in the world: Pinburgh with a prize purse of over $100,000. OPL or Buckeye? I'm with FSPA, but Trent Augenstein is a...
  11. Jason Charlton

    Gold plated or Gold tip banana plugs

    No more so than the reasons to go with banana plugs over bare wire. Banana plugs don't offer any significant performance improvement over traditional bare wire through binding posts. They are a convenience more than anything, and a fun side project at least. When I wired my basement theater, I...
  12. Jason Charlton

    What's cooking?

    My wife uses similar silicone baking mats and swears by them. We got some large mats and cut them to fit our cookie sheets. She didn't notice any effect on baking times, nor was there any impact on the amount of browning on cookie bottoms. Cleanup is easy and since my wife bakes lots of cookies...
  13. Jason Charlton

    What's cooking?

    Strange. I noticed that HTF wasn't allowing me to load an image directly from my computer (browse) - it wanted either a web URL or a link to items in my "Media", so I chose the latter. Noticed today that my media items have "shareable links".. here's a try using that... I'll go back and edit...
  14. Jason Charlton

    What's cooking?

    Overall, our Thanksgiving feast was a big success. As expected, the turkey took just at 2 hours at a steady 325°. I applied a wet rub under the skin over the breasts and thighs, adding the last of the rub and some oil to the outside for some golden brown crispy skin. Here's how I had the grill...
  15. Jason Charlton

    What's cooking?

    So here's the spatchcocked bird. Spatchcock by Jason Charlton posted Nov 23, 2016 at 10:07 PM I'm dry-brining it this year: 2-3 tsp of kosher salt sprinkled on the skin. The bird is chillin' in the garage refrigerator uncovered (this will supposedly allow the skin to dry out a bit, which...
  16. Jason Charlton

    What's cooking?

    FWIW, I have gotten a tremendous amount of great information from the website amazingribs.com. There is a very detailed section devoted to turkeys - you can find the link if you scroll down the main page a ways. Much like the Mythbusters, a lot of commonly held beliefs about grilling and other...
  17. Jason Charlton

    What's cooking?

    I spatchcocked my turkey last year when I did it on the grill and I plan on doing that again this year. Spatchcocking (if you're unfamiliar) is cutting out the backbone and cracking the breastbone between the wings so the bird lays flat. A spatchcocked bird cooks MUCH faster (which leaves less...
  18. Jason Charlton

    Replacing DirectTV satellite with digital antennae?

    Actually, I'm not certain this is the case. My understanding has always been that the only way your TV will output 5.1 via its digital optical output is if you are feeding an input signal to the TVs built-in tuner - as you do when using an external antenna. No other external source connected...
  19. Jason Charlton

    Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets (2017)

    I just kept thinking to myself that someone needs to tell Luc Besson that there are more ways to move the camera than to slowly draw in towards the actors. By my most conservative count, there are at least a dozen such shots in the trailer. Too many throwbacks to Fifth Element for me, and if...
  20. Jason Charlton

    5.1 through 7.1 speaker set up.

    Perhaps it's more a matter of semantics, but I don't consider it "native" unless only the intended speakers and discrete audio channels are being used. Configuring your setup to "force" sound to come from all speakers, IMO compromises the integrity of the original sound mix and is a less than...
  21. Jason Charlton

    Help Please - Looking to buy an amplifier or other audio enhancement

    You cannot add external amplification using that model Onkyo receiver. Adding an external amplifier to an AVR requires pre-outs for each channel that you wish to amplify with the additional hardware. That model Onkyo does not have pre-outs for anything other than the subwoofer channel (this is...
  22. Jason Charlton

    5.1 through 7.1 speaker set up.

    If you want to listen to movies as they are mixed, then movies with 5.1 soundtrack will use the 5.1 speakers and movies with 7.1 soundtracks will use the 7.1 speakers. That's the way the movies were mixed, and that's how they are played back. If you want "sound coming from all the speakers"...
  23. Jason Charlton

    Could a member please explain what I'm seeing?

    Is that an edge-lit LCD display? I assume you're referring to the vertical bands of brightness near the middle and left sides of the screens - surrounding the light-colored images on the screen. While I'm no expert in LCD display artifacts, this seems like the sort of side-effect you get from...
  24. Jason Charlton

    Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (2023)

    The aliens in and of themselves were not the biggest problem, IMO. You could chalk up any number of other issues: - Nuke/Fridge - Prairie dogs mugging to the camera - Silly jungle chase scene - Silly tarzan vine swinging - Over-reliance on cheesy CGI effects that strain suspension of disbelief...
  25. Jason Charlton

    Conviction Season 1 ABC

    We watched the pilot last night. Overall we enjoyed it, and will continue watching for the time being. I thought they were a little heavy-handed with providing SO MUCH character background over the first 20 or so minutes. By the time the show settled into the actual case, it went a lot smoother...
  26. Jason Charlton

    Bi wiring

    We should be certain we're talking about the same thing. Bi-wiring and bi-amping are two different things. The OP mentioned bi-wiring, but the Yamaha receiver can be configured to use the surround channels as bi-amp channels. Biwiring, for all intents and purposes, is completely pointless and...
  27. Jason Charlton

    What annoys you?

    Several years ago (geez, maybe it's been 5 or 6 years now... time flies!) we had an extensive energy audit performed at our house. They did the full deal - thermal imaging around windows and doors, interior and exterior weatherstripping/caulking evaluation, basement/foundation exam to look for...
  28. Jason Charlton

    Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016)

    I am a big Giacchino fan as well. One of his lesser known works (it isn't on his IMDB list) is one of my favorites: he did the entire score* to the film Cloverfield and the Overture is a lot of fun to listen to. * The overture was the only track of music in the film and played over the end credits
  29. Jason Charlton

    What annoys you?

    When the pleats of the pockets on my cargo shorts get hooked on the pull handles of our lower kitchen cabinets. I can only imagine what it must look like to see my hips freeze in place while every other part of my body continues its forward motion... or if I'm going the other way, and literally...
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